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McGuire talks Team Canada goalies
In February 2009, Olympic hockey analyst Pierre McGuire made his picks for Canada's 2010 Olympic men's hockey team. With the Stanley Cup playoffs done, McGuire was ready to revisit the larger pool of players and have an open discussion with CTVOlympics.ca about how performances over the second half of the NHL season may have changed the landscape.
We threw lots of names at McGuire - some from his February list and many additional names. We broke down our discussion by position, and McGuire gave us an honest take on what each player has to offer and measured each guy's chances of making Team Canada. Today, in the final part of our discussion, we feature what McGuire had to say about the goaltenders.
McGuire said he feels Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, Marc-Andre Fleury and Cam Ward will be the four main goaltenders in the running. We got his honest take on a number of goaltenders. In his words...
Roberto Luongo (Vancouver Canucks) - He has tremendous NHL experience but not a lot of playoff experience or success. The 2006-07 season was the was the first time he ever played in the NHL playoffs. But he has some international experience. His biggest claim to fame is his youth, his size and the fact that a lot of people think he's very good.
Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils) - I still think he's one of the guys who is a legitimate contender. He's got veteran experience. He's extremely talented. He's the king of timely goaltending, and he's the last Canadian goalie to win a gold medal at the Olympics.
Cam Ward (Carolina Hurricanes) - He's done a lot of great things for Canada internationally. He has obviously won a Stanley Cup and had an unbelievable run in this year's playoff, and he's extremely poised.
Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh Penguins) - He's unpredictable but tremendously athletic. He's very talented. He needs to be fundamentally more sound. In a tournament, when you're playing best on best, you can't give up a lot of rebounds, and he has to get better at that.
Chris Osgood (Detroit Red Wings) - The second goal from Maxime Talbot in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final shows the kind of goal you can't have in the Olympics. We've seen those too many times from Osgood.
Cary Price (Montreal Canadiens) - He hasn't played well. But I'll tell you one thing. I just went through to determine the most magical moments in international hockey for Canada in the last 30 years, and Cary Price [playing at the World Juniors] has to be in the top three. Hockey Canada knows how exciting those moments were with him.
Over the next ten days, Hockey Canada is expected to extend invitations to its August Olympic orientation camp in Calgary. It is expected that approximately 44 players will be invited overall. Steve Yzerman said he and his staff are still debating whether to invite four or six goaltenders. We will update our discussion after those invitations are extended.
Jun 27, 2009 | 1:55 AM ET
If I were GM my Team Canada for 2010 Olympics would be as follows: Head Coach - Mike Babcock - best in the NHL, international & playoff experience, will only get better Goalies: 1) Roberto Luongo - top goalie in NHL, international & olympic experience, in his prime 2) Cam Ward - one of the best in the NHL, international & playoff experience, best is yet to come 3) Steve Mason - stellar rookie year, international experience, goalie of the future Defence: 1st Pair - Jay Bouwmeester (A) - plays in all situations, excellent two way game, logs big minutes, international & olympic experience / Shea Weber - plays in all situations, big shot, excellent two way game, international experience 2nd Pair - Dion Phaneuf - plays in all situations, big shot, big hitter, logs big minutes, international & playoff experience / Brent Burns - plays in all situations, strong all around, can play forward 3rd Pair - Braydon Coburn - plays in all situations, strong all around, international experience / Mike Green - excellent offensive instincts, big shot, logs big minutes, plays in all situations 7th Defenceman - Duncan Keith - plays in all situations, excellent two way game Forwards: 1st Line - Rick Nash - excellent goal scorer, plays in front of the net, shorthanded threat, international & olympic experience / Sidney Crosby - excellent playmaker, clutch player, leader, international, olympic & playoff experience/ Jarome Iginla (C) - sniper, clutch player, leader, international, olympic & playoff experience 2nd Line - Vincent Lecavalier - great goal scorer, leader, international, olympic & playoff experience / Joe Thornton - great playmaker, international, olympic & playoff experience / Dany Heatley - sniper, international, olympic & playoff experience 3rd Line - Patrick Marleau - great two-way player, plays in all situations, shorthanded threat, leader, international & playoff experience / Mike Richards (A) - excellent two-way player, plays in all situations, clutch player, leader, shorthanded threat, international & playoff experience / Jeff Carter - great goal scorer, great two-way player, shorthanded threat, international & playoff experience 4th Line - Brendan Morrow - great goal scorer, plays in front of the net, strong all around, big hitter, leader, international & playoff experience / Ryan Getzlaf - great playmaker, big hitter, international & playoff experience / Shane Doan - great goal scorer, plays in front of the net, leader, big hitter, international & olympic experience 13th Forward - Patrice Bergeron - plays in all situations, great two-way player, international experience What this team lacks in experience they make up for in speed, size, toughness and talent. Much like international soccer's unwritten rule about player selection (youth over experience), I chose the players I did because they are all either in their prime or about to hit their prime instead of loading the team with players past their prime such as Brodeur, Niedermayer, Sakic, etc. I also chose to balance the left and right hand shots on defence as well as forward to give Canada an edge when facing left hand dominated teams like Sweden and Finland.
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